


Coming Out

by likelyvalentine (nokkakona)



Series: Not Dating [2]
Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, In Which Shawn Is Bisexual and Henry Is Piesexual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:46:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22348168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nokkakona/pseuds/likelyvalentine
Summary: A young Shawn comes out to his parents. One of them doesn’t react well, and it’s not who he thought it would be. Less angsty than it sounds.
Series: Not Dating [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608694
Comments: 4
Kudos: 73





	Coming Out

_1992_

Shawn’s palms are slick with sweat. It makes picking up the fork lying on the table in front of him unnecessarily difficult, and after it clatters out of his hand onto the floor for the second time, he gives up. 

“Are you okay, goose?” His mother, sitting across from him, eyes him with concern. “You look nervous.” 

The ball of anxiety that’s been threatening to burst in his chest cracks a little. “Me? No, I’m fine. Totes cool. All good in the, uh, hood.” 

If the grin he shoots her looks a little frenetic, she doesn’t say anything. 

“Why don’t you eat your pie? You’re not sick, are you?” Madeleine reaches across the table and touches the back of her hand to Shawn’s forehead, but he pulls away. 

“I’m not sick, I’m just not… hungry,” he lies. 

“You’re not gonna eat that, then?” Henry nods toward the pie in front of him. 

“Henry, you already had two pieces.” 

“I only had one!” 

“Oh, so it was some _other_ cop I saw earlier digging through the dessert drawer?” 

“I have to tell you something!”

The words pour from his lips before he can stop them. Henry and Madeleine look back at him, briefly distracted from their bickering. 

Seconds pass in silence. “Well?” Henry gestures for him to continue. “We don’t have all day.” 

“ _Yes_ , we do.” His mother says it through gritted teeth, hidden underneath a smile. 

“Okay, so…” 

Shawn swallows. He’d prepared for this moment- well, actually, no, he hadn’t. Not even a little. 

Maybe that’s why it feels a little bit like dying. 

“Uh… what I mean to say is… it’s kind of complicated, but what I wanted to say…” 

His father sighs pointedly through his nose, but his lips are pursed into a thin line. His mother’s brow is furrowed, her eyes scanning him worriedly. 

“I’m _not_ gay.” 

Henry blinks. “Okay, good talk.” He makes to stand, but Madeleine’s hand shoots out from underneath the table and fastens around his elbow. 

_“Henry,”_ she snaps. “He’s not finished.” 

“No, I heard very clearly, ‘I’m _not_ gay’,” Henry says. 

“ButIthinkI’mstillintoguysmaybealittle?” 

Shawn’s heart is hammering in his chest. He concentrates hard on the pattern on the tablecloth in front of him- whatever look was on his father’s face was one Shawn wasn’t sure he wanted burned into his head for the rest of his life. 

“Jesus Christ, Shawn, I thought you were going to tell me you stole something, or killed someone.” 

_“Killed some_ \- that’s supportive, Henry.” 

“Look-”

“Guys!” 

For the third time, Shawn interrupts his parents. His eyes are still fixed on the tablecloth. It’s wrinkled from where he’s gripping it under the table. 

“I’m, uh… kind of freaking out, okay? So can I get a read on this, or…?” 

He hears his father sigh. His chair creaks as he settles back down into it. 

“Hey, kid, look at me.” 

He’s shaking, his leg bouncing the table, but he forces himself to look back up at his father- and the knot in his stomach loosens almost immediately. 

“This doesn’t change anything,” his father says. “We’re not gonna kick you out, we’re not gonna yell. Okay?” 

“Okay.”

“Good.” Henry slaps a hand on the table, giving Shawn a small, rare smile. “Glad that’s over with. Now, about that pie…” 

Shawn can’t help but grin. The pit in his stomach closes, and suddenly, he’s hungry again. He’s fending off his father’s attempts to steal his plate, picking up his fork with sudden ease, when he looks at his mother. 

His stomach drops. 

For a moment- one, brief moment, before she masks it with a smile- she looks sad. 

**Author's Note:**

> there’s about a 50% chance i won’t follow up on this, but i kind of wanted to explore the idea that shawn’s mom isn’t exactly straight, so this might be less her being disappointed in shawn and more her being disappointed in herself- which obviously shawn doesn’t know


End file.
